Bacterial Culture Results of Septic Arthritis in Cattle

Abstract

Septic arthritis is a common cause of lameness in cattle. Affected animals are very lame and their productive life seriously compromised. Treatment with systemic antibiotics should be started rapidly to decrease the chance of permanent lesions affecting the animal. Because bacteriological results are rarely available before 48 to 72 hours after specimen submission, the knowledge of commonly isolated bacteria will help the clinician to start the appropriate antibiotic therapy until further results. The objectives of this study were to estimate the frequency of positive bacterial culture of clinically affected cattle with septic arthritis and to describe the type of bacteria most commonly isolated.